


There'll Be Parties for Hosting

by Draco_sollicitus



Series: 25 Days of Damerey [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Christmas Party, Christmas fic, Damerey December, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Modern AU, Office Party, Pre-Relationship, adults drinking, from a prompt on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:52:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Draco_sollicitus/pseuds/Draco_sollicitus
Summary: After a disastrous year of working together, Poe Dameron and Rey Smith are sworn enemies; when their boss, Leia Organa, requests that they co-plan the office Christmas party, they try to put their differences aside to make the holidays bright for everyone else.





	There'll Be Parties for Hosting

**Author's Note:**

> The 25 Days of Damerey begin now!
> 
> I'm taking most of the prompts for these 25 days from http://alloftheprompts.tumblr.com/post/134349883493/25-days-christmas-romance-challenge

“Dameron, my office.” Leia disappears back through the door, leaving it ajar, and Poe looks up from his file and tosses it on his desk.

“Fine, not like I was doing anything important,” he mutters to himself, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Normally, he wouldn’t be that sassy (even when Leia couldn’t hear him) to his boss; he’s Leia Organa’s Number One Fan (maybe number two, if you count Han). But, he’s been working this case for what feels like four days straight, he’s operating on less than three hours of sleep, and the coffee place had given him decaf this morning.

Decaf.

He drags himself out from behind his desk and leaves his private office to walk down the hallway, along the row of cubicles in the middle of the floor, towards Leia’s office. As the head of “Resist,” a non-profit dedicated to eradicating injustices in the legal system, Leia Organa is probably the busiest person he knows; and, as her go-to attorney, Poe’s probably the second busiest person. This is probably an incredibly important matter if she took time out of her schedule to pull him from working on a case.

He knocks lightly before entering her office, and he’s surprised to not only hear cheerful Christmas music (was it December already? Wasn’t it just Halloween?), but also to see Rey Smith, one of their paralegals, already sitting in a seat.

Poe nods at Rey, who doesn’t return the gesture. Fair enough: he might have lost his temper with her last year when they were working the Boba Fett case. After weeks and weeks of research, Rey had come up with a theory on the spot and handed it to Poe right before the last leg of the trial. Sure, he was mildly impressed that she’d come up with such a brilliant idea so quickly, but he also wished she’d done her best work a little earlier in the game, considering Fett’s life had literally been on the line.

They’d won the case, thankfully, but not before Poe had yelled at Rey for ‘slapdash’ work and ‘jeopardizing a man’s freedom.’ He’d also demanded that she never be assigned to help him with any case, ever again, and by the time they’d won the case, almost solely because of Rey’s theory, Leia had already taken his demand to heart.

Now, Rey avoids him like the plague, and a lot of the paralegals and junior attorneys do too; apparently, Rey Smith is universally well-liked, and in insulting her, he’d sort of...insulted everyone who wasn’t a senior attorney. Paige Tico, who he’d helped through law school, wouldn’t even look at him for three months after the Fett case.

The ice hasn’t thinned in the slightest with Smith, and he uneasily settles into the chair next to her, across from Leia.

“So, I’ve decided that you two will plan our Christmas party this year.” Leia waves an airy hand as she speaks, and Poe stares at her incredulously. _She knows that we can’t stand each other, right?_ “I feel like, given the spirit of the holiday, it would be an excellent opportunity for two of my favorite employees to get to know each other better.”

“With all due respect, Leia” - Rey shifts in her seat and leans forward, dropping her voice as if that would stop Poe from hearing her - “Do you really think...I’m the best person for the job? You know. With...”

 _See? She doesn’t want to do this either,_ Poe wants to shout. He should feel more insulted that Rey obviously doesn’t want to work with him, but he actually can’t blame her.

“Yes, I do.” Leia fixes them both with a steely glare. “Is that going to be a problem? Should I find another two to get this done for me?”

“No ma’am,” Poe says quickly. Rey agrees as well, and they find themselves being ushered out the door by Leia, who gives them a budget of two thousand dollars - Poe’s already doing the mental math, considering their office is fifty people - and a date of December 23.

The door clicks shut behind them, and they turn to appraise each other. Poe feels like he’s being systematically sized up, and he has a hunch he’s being found very lacking, judging by the cool expression Rey wears.

“So, what do you think?” Poe smirks at her, wondering if he can get her icy glare to crack. “Should we just plan this on the 22nd and hope for the best?”

“Unbelievable.” Rey huffs and rolls her eyes. Too late, Poe realizes his mistake. He had actually meant his proposition - but she thinks he’s digging at her for something he’s already yelled at her for. “Let’s just get started tomorrow. At lunch. Let the micromanaging commence.” She pats his shoulder condescendingly as she marches past him, and when he pivots to stare at her, all long legs and pencil skirt and impeccably crisp blouse and stiff spine, he feels something that feels a lot like regret stewing inside himself.

***

“I mean, can you believe it?” Poe glowers at his margarita and then continues his complaint. “Leia actually expects us to work well together? Do you remember how fast and loose she played the Fett case last year?”

“That’s...not how I remember it.” Snap sets his beer down and rubs his beard. Poe’s too worked up to notice his friend’s disagreement.

“She’s just - I bet she’s been handed everything her entire life. Now, I was lucky, I know that. My family was well-off, and even when Mom died, I had a father who loved me and had a great job. But he told me every day, he said, ‘ _mijo,_ the good things in life are worth fighting for. So you gotta fight for them, every day.’ I don’t think she’s fought for a single thing in her entire life!” Poe wiped a hand down his face. “And now we have to plan this stupid party together.”

“Oh yeah, totally upsetting, you have to work with the nicest, prettiest person in our office.” Snap rolls his eyes and ignores Poe’s sound of indignation. “I mean, yes, she hates your dumb ass, but you also horribly insulted her last year. And honestly, I don’t think you know her very well if you think she’s spoiled. Rey’s a hard worker. Anyone with eyes - even someone as subjective as you are, in this case - should be able to see that.”

Poe drains his margarita and makes a sour face, both at the burn of the tequila and Snap’s probably-definitely-annoyingly true commentary. “I’m getting another drink.”

“Get me one too!” Snap shouts at his back as Poe pushes through the crowd of people that are here at the Falcon. He signals to Lando, who waves a towel at him, and waits for the round, tapping his fingers on the wood of the bar.

A familiar voice drifts towards him, and Poe focuses on the sweet, low tone as it grumbles something, something about _Poe_ -

“Poe Dameron is a complete and total wanker! You should have seen his face when Leia said we’d be working together. Threw a wrench in his perfect little world, I can tell you that.” Rey Smith pauses in her rant about Poe to throw back a shot expertly; her back is to him, but her friend has seen Poe by now, and he’s clearly trying to catch Rey’s attention. “Can you believe he demanded to never work with me again?”

Lando sets Poe’s margarita down in front of him, and Snap’s beer, and Poe thanks him quietly. He should walk away now, he knows that, but he sort of wants to hear the end of this, for whatever reason.

Rey scoffs and drags her finger through condensation on the table. “After I helped him win that case? It’s such bull. I can’t even work on the best cases because he gets them, he’s Leia’s favorite, and he won’t work with me.”

“It’s ridiculous Peanut, I know that.” Finn, another paralegal from the office, pats her hand comfortingly. “But you also might want to keep your voice down.” He leans out of the booth slightly and winces when he sees Poe standing there (and Poe does feel a little bad for eavesdropping - no matter how loud Rey was being - because Finn Storm’s a pretty nice guy). Rey turns and sees Poe raising his glass at her. She rolls her eyes and returns to speaking to Finn rapidly and quietly over the table, her arms wrapped around herself.

The tips of her ears and the back of her neck (pretty much the only thing he can see of her now) are bright pink - and Poe wonders why that draws his attention so much. Shrugging, he collects his drinks and heads back to his own table, where he and Snap discuss their fantasy football league, and Poe definitely does not sneak glances across the bar at Finn Storm and Rey Smith.

An hour later, he’s coming out of the bathroom, drying his hands on his pants (the Falcon’s great, but the hygiene standards are a little questionable, and there never seems to be paper towels in the men’s bathroom), when he bumps into someone. He should have been looking where he was going, but he had been distracted by the very tacky floor under his very nice shoes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have been standing and” - There’s that familiar voice again, and Rey Smith turns around, smiling apologetically, and her real, full smile is nothing short of dazzling. “Texting.” Her smile fades comically when she sees that it’s Poe who ran into her.

Poe feels a little off-kilter from the realization that Rey’s smile is brighter than the massive Christmas tree Han and Lando rigged up outside. And for that reason, he demonstrates - yet again - how artfully he can cram his size ten feet into his mouth.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Poe comments, half-smiling. “Especially not on a work night.”

Rey’s face immediately twists in disgust. “Are you kidding me?” She pulls her purse closer to her body, and Poe realizes just how rude his comment could have sounded. “You’re here too, jackass. I’m not just - getting drunk on a work night. I know you think I don’t give a damn about anything, but Finn wanted to come out.”

“That’s not what I-”

“Whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Rey shoves past him and storms down the hallway, her shoes clicking against the dingy linoleum. Poe shakes his head at the cheery, slightly decrepit wreath hanging on the door of the bathroom. “It’s going to be a great Christmas,” he mutters to himself, slinking back to his table.

It takes Snap a full minute to wrangle what had happened out of him, and Poe mumbles it into the wood of the table while Snap pats him on the shoulder consolingly.

“Idiot,” Snap says fondly.

“Mhm.”

Poe’s always loved Christmas, but if things keep going this way, he’s going to have to label himself the Grinch.

***

Thankfully, Rey doesn’t want to talk about their encounter at the Falcon, and they begin planning the next day with the atmosphere cool but not frosty.

Poe’s surprised to learn that Rey’s already started a spreadsheet of possible costs and ways to get things for free or a reduced cost, and he makes the very big mistake of mentioning his surprise to her. He can feel the temperature in the meeting room cool by ten degrees.

“Why would you be surprised?” Rey scowls at him but continues typing on her Excel document. “Leia asked us to work on this. This is work.”

Poe flounders for a good response. "I've just... never seen you care about something like this."

It’s entirely the wrong thing to say, and Rey’s fingers pause on the keys for a very uncomfortable three seconds before she resumes typing. "Well, you never really look at me, do you?"

 _Yes I do._ A small part of Poe whispers - and that’s the very big secret of all of this, the secret that he barely ever admits to himself. For all their distance, Poe often, _often_ looks at Rey Smith. Snap wasn’t wrong when he called her the prettiest person in their office.

Rey’s voice is very small when she next speaks, and she looks over the top of the laptop, her cheeks pink. "This is sort of my only Christmas thing this year. Finn and Rose are going out of town, and I don't have a family. This office is the closest thing I have to a family, and I want them to have something nice. I...I don’t think it’s surprising that I want to do well.”

 _It’s not,_ Poe should shout. But he’s frozen, staring at her, and her eyes, which are a little glassy at first quickly harden when he doesn’t find the words to say. “Figures,” she mutters, shaking her head. Again, she begins to type figures into the spreadsheet.

“I’m sorry.” Her fingers pause when Poe speaks. “I’m sorry for...for everything. I feel like I’m always insulting you somehow, and it started last year with the Fett case, and… you actually did a really incredible job on it, but by the time I realized it, you hated me, and...and I figured you didn’t want to work with me anywhere because I’m an ass. But you’re right. It shouldn’t surprise me that you want to do a good job on this because you do a good job always.”

Rey’s ears turn pink again, the only real sign that she took in what he had to say, and now Poe’s blushing too.

Then, she turns to him with a smile on her lovely face, and Poe freezes again - it’s not the full watt version that he’s seen glimpses of, but it’s...it’s close.

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Do what?” Poe blinks, trying to understand.

“Apologize.” Her smile is definitely teasing, but he takes it, and Poe nods sheepishly before leaning in and helping her organize the data.

The hour passes by much more quickly than he expected.

***

“Maybe we should have a room where we play Christmas movies.” Poe cracks his neck and leans back in his chair, tipping back in it - they’ve been at this for ten days now, and he and Rey are already way more comfortable around each other. “God, I could bring my DVDs of A Christmas Story, and Christmas Vacation, and Christmas Carol and -” He stops at the small smile playing at Rey’s mouth. “What?”

“It’s just…” she giggles, a bright and cheerful sound, and Poe leans in. The meeting room is decorated with artificial garlands and tinsel now, and he feels a little more festive for it. “All those titles sound exactly the same.”

Poe scoffs. “They’re obviously not the same, they’re very-” He pauses and blinks. “Hold on. Have you...have you actually seen any of those movies?” Rey shakes her head, her lips squeezed together, and Poe nearly shouts in surprise, the front legs of his chair banging into the ground. “What Christmas movies _have_ you seen?”

“...Die Hard.” Rey smirks at him and goes back to completing their catering order on the computer.

“Die Hard?” Poe splutters. “That’s - that’s not even really a Christmas movie!”

“It’s set at Christmas,” Rey says primly. “Therefore, it’s a Christmas movie.”

“You couldn’t be more wrong.” Poe studies her face, waiting for her to break and tell him it’s a joke, that she’s seen all the Christmas movies, but her expression remains impassive (although he swears her eyes are twinkling).

“I’m sure.”

***

The next day, Poe commandeers the laptop and pops open the DVD drive. “Your education begins now,” he announces, revealing the copy of Elf he was hiding under the table. “We’ll start with the broader comedies, and then move into the sentimental stuff.”

“Ugh, _sentiment_?” Rey wrinkles her nose adorably, and Poe sticks his tongue out at her while he queues up the movie. “You didn’t say anything about sentiment.”

“It’s Christmas,” he says indignantly, opening his work bag to pull out two Ziplocs full of popcorn (because how else would they watch a movie?). “It’s sort of implied.”

Rey fusses a little longer, but soon she settles in with her bag of popcorn open, and her massive hazel eyes fixed on the screen. Their shoulders touch when they lean in to watch the movie, and Poe tries very hard not to focus on how Rey doesn’t lean away from it, and tries very hard not to notice how the warmth of her leaks in through his suit.

***

On the day of the party, they head to Wegmans to pick up their catering order. Rey stands at the front of the cart, her feet on the bottom rack, and Poe wheels her through the grocery store as she laughs delightedly. He wiggles the cart more than specifically necessary, which only makes her giggle more - and it’s cyclical because her giggle only makes him want to do it more.

They only stop after the tired look the guy at the fish station shoots them, and they pay for their order at the desk and then get out.

While heading back to the office, Rey driving as its her pick up (now loaded up with the karaoke machine that she’d found at a thrift store and impressively fixed herself, the games, and the props for the party), Poe finds himself singing along with carols loudly, some of the trays of sandwiches perched on his lap.

“You have a nice voice,” Rey comments idly as she turns right. Poe blushes to the roots of his hair and mumbles a thank you.

“Food smells good,” he says, for something to say. “Do you think we have enough?” Rey’s answering laugh is bitter, and he looks over at her in confusion. “What? Did I say something?”

“No, it’s just…” She doesn’t look over at him. “I never thought I’d be around this much food.”

“What do you mean?”

Rey does look at him then. “Surely, you know?” When he shakes his head, his confusion is definitely openly written on his face. Rey sighs and explains, and Poe’s heart breaks with every word. “You were right...when you told Leia you thought my education and past weren’t...up to code.” _Did I actually...oh crap. Yeah. I did._ “My parents they, uh...sort of abandoned me. Right around this time of year, actually. And I spent most of my childhood starving, never knowing when my next meal would be, or if I’d even get a next meal.”

Poe blinks, trying to process this, but she isn’t done.

“Honestly, I didn’t celebrate Christmas until I was almost twenty years old, which is when I met Finn. That’s why I fought Leia on choosing me for this project - not because it was with you, although, at the time, I sort of thought...you know.” She smirks at him almost apologetically, and Poe jerks his head in agreement. “No, it was because...I’m not right for the project. I don’t know a whole lot about Christmas, how it works, or how it’s supposed to be this grand sentimental time, and… I haven’t ever even owned a Christmas Tree, for god’s sake. I’m still...I don’t know, Christmas seems like a time for people who are thriving, and I’m still just...trying to survive.”

“I had no idea,” Poe says softly, his stomach curdling slightly in the warm air of the cab. He feels a little too warm and fidgets with the collar of his coat. Rey doesn’t wear a coat, something he noticed when they started planning this damn party - but maybe it’s because...

“Now you do.”

They sit in silence until they reach their building, and when Rey backs into her designated spot, she hops out without a word. Poe stares at himself in the side view mirror for a long moment before he unbuckles and goes to join her in unloading the truck bed.

***

At the party, Rey avoids Poe.

Their conversation in the truck was almost four hours ago, and they made small talk as they frantically put together the last minute touches, but then they’d gone to get changed, and now she won’t even look at him. And Poe’s openly staring at her from across the party. It’s definitely going to be office gossip tomorrow, but he finds that he doesn’t really care, not when Rey Smith is standing in the corner of the party she planned, looking lost, looking beautiful in a green sweater dress and a Santa hat, and he can’t stop staring at her because staring at her is the most natural thing in the world to do.

It’s a moot point, Rey avoiding him, when Leia calls them up front for everyone to thank them. She talks about friendship and the Christmas spirit, and thanks them for being such great partners, and Poe winces internally because he and Rey really _are_ great partners - perfect partners, if he’s being honest with himself, a fact he’s come to realize after three weeks of planning and eating lunches and telling jokes and watching Christmas movies and getting to know her - and now it’s over.

After they take what’s probably the most awkward picture in the history of pictures (His fault; he has no doubt Rey looks stunning and natural, and he looks constipated and nervous), Rey takes off at the speed of light, headed for the glass doors to the balcony.

Poe stares after her, and someone sidles up next to him. “Sup?”

“Huh?” He turns and sees Finn Storm sipping his beer, giving him A Serious Look.

“You’re an idiot if you don’t follow her,” Finn says calmly.

“I think I’m sort of an idiot anyway.” Poe appreciates the fact that Finn slaps him on the shoulder while laughing in agreement. He clears his throat and hands Finn his own drink. “Wish me luck?”

“Go get her.” Finn salutes him somehow while double fisting, and Poe grins at him before walking swiftly to the doors to the balcony.

The wind’s died down now, and the moon’s shining brightly enough that he can clearly see; it’s entirely empty out here, everyone inside playing the game that they planned, everyone but Rey and him. “Hey,” he calls out, so he doesn’t startle her. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah.” Rey turns and smiles at him, a half-smile at best, her arms around her middle again. “What did you need?”

“Nothing.” He leans against the railing and studies her face in profile. Her hair’s pinned back prettily from her face, and it falls nicely against her elegant neck. Poe swallows hard and looks out over the city. “I just...wanted to talk.”

“Okay.” She turns so their stances match. “So talk?”

“I’m...going to miss working with you,” Poe decides that’s safe enough to say, and Rey smiles at him ruefully.

“Yeah.” She shrugs. “Too bad you banned me from working cases with you.”

“That was probably a little too harsh of me.” Poe resists the urge to tuck a stray hair behind her ear, one that’s fallen out of her pins. “I’ll speak to Leia about…” A thought occurs to him, and he licks his bottom lip anxiously.

“About letting me work with you again?” Rey nudges him and grins. “Now that’s a nice Christmas present.”

“Yeah.” Poe clears his throat and stares at the ground. “Except…”

“Except what?” Rey pops her hand on her hip and glowers at him. He doesn’t have to look up to know that she does.

“Except…”

“Ugh!” Rey throws her hands in the air and then grips the railing with both hands, glaring at the cityscape. “You’re ridiculous. Here I was, thinking you were going to say something nice to me for once, and instead--”

“If we start-” Poe shakes his head and cancels the thought. “No. God, no, I’m being selfish.”

“What?”

Poe winces and rests his elbows on the railing. “Sorry. No, I’d love to work with you again. You’re brilliant, and funny, and quick on your feet, and you don’t put up with my crap. I can...I can tell Leia now, actually.”

“Why did you think you were being selfish?” Rey doesn’t seem ready to let that go, and Poe regrets opening his big, fat, stupid mouth.

“I just...if we work together like that again...I…I wouldn’t...” He rubs his stubble and grips the back of his curls as if he could possibly rein this disaster in. “Crap.”

“You wouldn’t crap?” Rey breaks in, sounding amused. “Am I that constipating?”

“Ugh.” Poe wants to bang his head into the concrete wall. “I wanted to ask you out. I have for a few weeks now. And - and if we were working together, we wouldn’t be able to-” He covers his face with his hands. “Like _that’s_ the biggest obstacle to going out with you, and not my crappy personality, which, as history has proven, is a solid enough detraction from you ever consenting to go on a -”

“Do you want to go on a date?”

Poe stops his awkward, gut-wrenching, stumbling confession to shoot her a look. “Obviously. But like I was saying-”

“No, idiot.” Rey’s smile is softer than he’s seen it, sweeter. “Do you want to go on a date with me? I’m asking.”

“Uh-” Poe’s mouth is open wide enough that he’d catch bugs if it weren’t wintertime.

“That’s cute.” Rey’s nose is wrinkled from how widely she’s smiling, and Poe snorts before gripping elbow and tugging her slightly towards him.

“C’mere.” She does so very willingly, coming in until she’s brushing against the lapels of his jacket. He shivers slightly, but not from the cold, and her cheeks are bright red, eyes sparkling, when he leans in a little more. “Well, you asked me out. It’s only fair if I ask you if I can kiss you.”

“What, right now?” Rey teases. “In front of all these people?”

He glances over at the glass windows, but the party doesn’t even seem to know they’re out here. Finn’s distracting Leia, and Rose has most of the office grouped around the karaoke machine. “Yep.”

“Alright then.” Rey brushes her hands over the front of his jacket and cocks her head at him. His eyes flicker helplessly down to the pink bow of her mouth, his gut swooping pleasantly at their proximity. “Give it your best shot, Dameron.”

He does.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you'll check back in with Draco's Damerey December for tomorrow's prompt:
> 
> "Character A’s best friend rigs the Secret Santa, because they know Character A has a crush on Character B."


End file.
